Anglican Diocese says not all abuse victims want to go to police

Updated
April 22, 2013 19:33:00

The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne has told the Victorian Inquiry into the Handling of Child Sexual Abuse that it is unaware of any complaints about the way it has responded to allegations of child sexual abuse in recent years. The Diocese had told the inquiry it encourages all victims of sexual abuse to report their case to police but sometimes they don't want to. Meanwhile away from the inquiry, Victoria Police says the arrest of a priest who returned to Melbourne from Rome is a breakthough in its relationship with the Catholic Church.

MARK BANNERMAN: The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne says it's not aware of any complaints about the way it has handled allegations of sexual abuse in recent years.

The diocese has told the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the handling of child sexual abuse it encourages people who have been abused by clergy or church workers to report it to the police.

But the Church claims some people are simply reluctant to do so.

Samantha Donovan reports.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne told the parliamentary inquiry today its records show it's received 46 complaints of child abuse since 1955.

But it acknowledged that its record-keeping prior to 1994 was inadequate and the number of complaints may be higher.

Philip Freier is the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne.

PHILIP FREIER: The response that we've developed since it was first put in place in 1994 has emphasised the importance of listening to victims and working with them from their own perception of the effects of their abuse.

Whilst we acknowledge their plight, we can never have the ability to stand in their shoes and truly understand the enormity of the pain and misery caused by abuse.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: The Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry is considering whether to recommend making the reporting of sexual abuse to the police mandatory for religious and other organisations.

Claire Sargent is the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne's director of professional standards.

She says there's no question that when abuse is contemporary it should be reported.

But she says when it comes to the reporting of historical abuse, it's not always so straightforward.

CLAIRE SARGENT: If somebody has been abused, they get strong enough, they come and tell you about it and often it might be a first report.

If you then ask them, "can you report it to police", and they say "no, I don't want to" - and they might have an number of different reasons, for example, they have a criminal history themselves, they don't want their family to find out about it, they recognise it's a one-on-one situation that occurred on a single occasion, they understand that the police are unlikely to take it up, or they don't know the name of the abuser.

So we're trying to judge that empowerment/disempowerment for the individual. We're trying to work out what it is that we can do for them that is best for them.

SAMANTHA DONOVAN: Claire Sargent told the inquiry that of the 46 complaints the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne has records of, 12 have been reported to police, 20 haven't, and the status of the other complaints isn't clear.

She says reporting the complaint to police doesn't guarantee charges will be laid.